On the Brink of Despair

Gordon instinctively reached for his gun, only to feel his empty holster and remember that Catwoman had stolen it long ago.

The Bioman's heavy fist hurtled toward his face, carrying a foul stench and a howling rush of air. Overwhelming terror pinned him in place like a wooden stake driven through his foot.

At the moment between life and death, his old partner lunged and knocked him aside. The fist grazed their cheeks, its sharp bristles slicing open Gordon's cheekbone.

So close. He had come so close to dying!

They hit the ground hard and rolled away from the trampling feet. Before either could celebrate surviving, they were plunged back into an endless chase.

Bullock drew his gun and fired back. He was one of the police force's best shots. In good lighting, he was ninety percent certain he could shoot the Biomans' eyes out before they got close.

He could only fire blindly into the darkness, aiming toward the nearest panting.

It worked. The Biomans were driven back for the moment, but they refused to give up. Growling like furious gorillas, they beat their chests and circled the two men.

The situation seemed to have reached a stalemate, but it was as precarious as a seesaw on a mountaintop.

A single gust could upset the balance.

Meanwhile, Qin Wei huddled motionless in a corner.

He had discovered the Biomans' weakness as soon as he reached the bottom of the Well. The monsters had spent years in Nutrient Pods and had only recently been released into the sewers, but both environments had very little light.

In other words, their vision had deteriorated badly. They could do little more than detect light sources.

Shouting and waving flashlights around like Gordon and Bullock were doing was practically putting up a sign pointing to a buffet, just in case anyone couldn't find somewhere to eat.

Qin Wei had wanted to warn them, but the situation had been urgent, leaving him little time. A mistake might even have put him in danger.

Of course, he had no intention of playing dead, either. Gordon and Bullock were his shield. Without a shield, how could a soldier withstand a hail of enemy arrows?

Think of something. Hurry, think of something! What would Batman do?

Ever since he was little, everyone who knew Qin Wei had called him brilliant, but hopelessly lazy.

Yes, "lazy" summed up his attitude toward life perfectly.

He had been the same in school, never striving to stand out when he could coast along in the middle. Once he entered the workforce, those habits proved just as hard to break. He did the bare minimum, slept on the job, played on his phone during meetings, and always put off his work until the end of the day was approaching.

He was gifted, after all, and quick-witted enough to do a day's worth of someone else's work in an hour.

His favorite thing was teamwork. On a team, he didn't have to think. He simply did whatever the person in charge told him to do. If something went wrong, he wouldn't take the blame, though he wouldn't share in the glory, either...

But why would someone with no ambition like him care about glory?

Life was something to coast through!

Yet ever since he had crossed into this world, one burden after another had fallen onto his shoulders. He had to rescue Oswald, and now he had to save Gordon from the Biomans.

He hated responsibility. He hated having no choice.

Now he had both.

Qin Wei wanted to lie down and end it all, but his will to survive kept lashing him onward, refusing to let him stop.

Like an overheating engine, his heart hammered wildly, pumping an endless supply of adrenaline into every corner of his body. At that moment, Qin Wei's mind became extraordinarily sharp.

A crazy idea sprang into his head.

"Commissioner Gordon, your handcuffs!"

"What?"

"I said, your handcuffs!!!!"

His hoarse roar cut through the surrounding noise and reached Gordon's ears. In the flashlight's beam, Qin Wei saw a pair of handcuffs come flying toward him.

But his roar had also attracted an unwelcome visitor.

This Bioman had been shot by Bullock and had retreated to lick its wounds. Qin Wei's sudden shout immediately caught its attention.

The flashlight beam flashed past and vanished. Qin Wei heard the crisp clatter of the handcuffs hitting the ground. Recalling where they had landed, he braced his hands against the floor and felt around.

At the same time, the grating beneath him suddenly began to shake violently.

Something was approaching.

It stopped, looming right over his head.

Hot breath washed over the back of Qin Wei's neck, still wet with sewage, and a rotten smell drifted into his nostrils. He held his breath and remained motionless, but his heart kept pounding like a drum.

At last, his fingers touched the handcuffs. But they were lodged in a gap in the grating, and the slightest nudge sent them falling through.

At the last possible instant, Qin Wei lunged forward and hooked the falling cuffs with his fingertips.

But he had made far too much noise. Even with the surrounding racket to cover him, the Bioman noticed the strange sound.

It bent down, flaring two nostrils like rotten strawberries as it tried to pick the scent of a human out of the jumble of odors.

There was really no need for that. Another half step forward would have been enough to crush Qin Wei's skull.

You can't find me~ You can't find me~

Qin Wei repeated the words silently, trying to hypnotize himself. To his surprise, it actually worked. The Bioman came no closer, and his wildly pounding heart gradually settled.

He naively thought he might escape.

But trouble always struck at the weakest point, and one crisis followed another.

Without warning, a stringy glob of foul-smelling snot splattered onto his head.

Qin Wei could endure it, but his physical revulsion made his stomach churn and cramp. For an instant, the overwhelming urge to vomit even eclipsed his fear.

His face turned deathly pale. If he threw up at a moment like this, his life would probably be over.

He bit down hard on his lip and finally suppressed the urge.

But the glob of snot seemed to have a mind of its own. After sickening Qin Wei, it flowed down his arm and, in the blink of an eye, seeped between his fingers and the handcuffs.

Lubricated by the mucus, the handcuffs were gradually slipping from his control.

Qin Wei's face went ashen. These handcuffs were their only hope of escape. If he let them fall, it would all be over.

He tried to pull the cuffs back up, but the slick mucus was no different from lubricant. Every time he was about to get a grip, they slipped away again.

After rubbing against the opening in the grating for so long, Qin Wei's wrist was smeared with blood.

The Bioman smelled the blood, too, and lowered its head closer and closer.

Clink!

Qin Wei felt the weight leave his fingertips. After toying with him over and over, fate still refused to spare the poor wretch.

The handcuffs fell into the darkness, taking Qin Wei's heart with them.

"Aaaah!!!!!! Fuck your mother!"

He broke down, roaring without restraint as he vented his fury.

The Bioman was still searching for its target when the roar exploded beside its ear, startling it into stumbling backward. But it soon recovered.

What was there to fear about food?

It reached out with a huge, hairy hand and snatched Qin Wei up.

Hearing the roar, Bullock realized Qin Wei was in danger. He swung his gun around in a panic, overlooking the Bioman waiting to ambush him from the darkness. Thud! The monster's long arm struck him, sending him crashing to the ground, his fate unknown.

The Bioman opened its bloody maw. In the light, Qin Wei saw two rows of huge yellow teeth riddled with cavities. A vile stench hit him in the face.

The air of death engulfed them all.

But just as despair overtook them, a beam of light shot out of an opening in the Well's wall, breaking through the darkness.

Then came two gunshots.

One bullet entered the Bioman's mouth and punched out through its lower jaw, frightening it into hastily flinging Qin Wei aside. The other shot struck the Bioman that had ambushed Bullock, piercing its eardrum and burying itself in its brain.

The monster's face twisted hideously. Driven by the agonizing pain, it abandoned its pursuit of Gordon and clutched its head, crashing around like a maddened bull. Before long, it breathed its last.

Seeing their companion killed, the Biomans dared not make any rash moves.

"Gentlemen, can you really accomplish nothing without a woman?"

A lilting, cheerful female voice echoed through the drainage Well.